Connections
by Titania Le Fey
Summary: Snake gunfighting in New Vegas, Thailand
1. Chapter 1

Snake walked into the make shift bar attached to the arena. What was one more gunfight? Plissken was amazed that he had managed to become bored with the adrenaline of walking in where only one would walk out. It worried him. He wasn't here for the excitement though. This was all about making money. After signing in he resigned to sticking around for the two hours until his fight. There was no sense in leaving. Where would he go anyway except walk in circles around town and do nothing?

Plissken sighed and took a booth well to one side and off in a corner. A drink came for him immediately but he wasn't very interested. His mind was distracted by a thousand other things. The only choice was to let his mind wander so it would clear out before he went into the arena. Snake laid his head back against the wall and ran his hand through his hair. His mind was on the government and what he was hearing through fairly reliable sources. Someone in Virginia had lost their mind, more then usual. Snake sighed and froze when he felt a small but demanding tug on his jacket sleeve.

Plissken lowered his arm and peered down at the little girl wrapped in a silk sarong. She smiled when she finally received his attention.

"You like, I do something for you mister?" Her words were a little shaky as she opened the wrap to show him her body. Snake stared feeling his good eye twitch. He wasn't looking out of sexual interest but shock. Few things stunned Plissken; crazies, a few idiots and this but this was the worst.

Snake looked back down at his drink and knocked back the shot. He needed a drink stronger than this to deal with being propositioned by a child. She was no more than a baby. The worst was sending her a way was a less desirable fate than actually accepting. The whole situation knotted Plissken's insides.

"You want I go?" She had that verge of tears in her voice. It was so bad that Plissken couldn't bear looking over at her. He took a deep breath and smiled to himself.

"No." He answered her and slid over in the booth.

She clamored up next to him and settled in. She was staring down at his pants. Plissken shifted uncomfortably next to her.

"I make you happy?" It was more of a question than a statement.

"Yeah." Snake answered offhandedly while putting in an order with the waitress. The woman had just turned away when Snake felt a much too small hand groping him. Snake thought he was going to vomit. The lurching in his stomach brought the bile taste with it as he took the hand away and set it in her lap.

"No, sweetheart." Snake let her hand go and tried to force down the sick feeling.

"No?" She didn't understand at all. He could see it in her eyes. "But I make you happy."

Snake sighed and leaned over close to her. "You will."

Snake left it at that before pulling away. He realized soon enough that he hadn't been convincing when she slid up on to his lap. Her little legs barely straddled his. She looked up with big, questioning eyes.

"What's your name?" He asked trying his best to not think about what she was aiming to do.

"Mei Ping" She whispered looking down.

"Pretty name." Snake commented as he watched the crowd ebb around in front of him.

She leaned up and kissed his cheek. Giggles erupted when she was prickled in the lips. Snake assumed that probably wasn't something she was accustoming to. As quickly as the laughter started it abruptly ended. Snake hardly noticed as his mind was drifting again.

"Not happy with Mei Ping. Get other girl?" She was tugging at his shirt this time.

Snake looked down at the girl in his lap. The fear in her eyes worked its way right down into Plissken's soul, past even the hate that burned so brightly. Her eyes were diverted elsewhere and he saw the man staring at them. A deep frown creased his face as he watched Plissken in the booth with the girl.

"No." Snake was in luck as he saw their food coming toward the booth. "You will make me very happy."

"How?" Her voice was a high pitched child's cry. She was terrified of that man, whoever he was. Plissken didn't care. If he came over to start on him Plissken had two very potent methods of shutting him up, permanently.

"Eat with me." Plissken smiled as the two bowls and hot pot were placed on the table. He was serious. Too many meals over the past weeks had been alone. Plissken could use the company even if she didn't say much.

Mei Ping glanced over her shoulder at the food and the audible rumble told Plissken what he expected. She hadn't eaten in awhile.

"Turn around."

She shifted and came to rest on his knee. He hadn't noticed until now that if she sat in the booth she'd be too short to reach the table. Snake took the chopsticks and started piling the smaller bowl with noodles and covering them in fish broth. She squirmed anxiously when he slid it to her. The noodles were shoveled in like it had been days since she ate. Plissken on the other hand savored the noodles. Snake always took time to enjoy his food when the chance presented itself. He had two hours and could certainly afford to take his time with lunch.

He was still eating when little arms wiggled around his chest. Snake looked down to see a big happy smile. It was a contagious smile that spread in Plissken's expression as well. It made him feel playful as she nuzzled into his shirt. Snake took a bite of shrimp and grabbed her nose with the chopsticks. She squealed and buried her face under his coat. Snake chuckled more and went back to eating.

Plissken was glad for the company. What made it more welcome was the lack of strings or worry. She was a kid. He could relax without having to decipher the meanings behind her words and actions. That alone made her presence worthwhile. 


	2. Never Down

_I'm a gambler  
And I'm a runner  
But you knew that  
When you layed down_

I'm a picture of  
Ugly stories  
I'm a killer and  
I'm a clown

-Alice Cooper

Mei Ping had long since fallen asleep in his lap leaving Plissken alone with his thoughts again. Still, even asleep, her company was comforting. Time passed and Snake tried to wrap his mind around the rumors. The government had a super weapon they said. It was something that blew all the bombs and guns clean out of the water. Inside Plissken worried it was another virus or worse a more potent gas. With governments as they stood that was always the first worry.

He had driven himself mad with the contemplation of what the government was planning by the time he noticed the surge of the crowd. It was time to get up and make his money. Plissken wondered what to do with his foundling and sighed.

"Mei Ping." He whispered to her waiting for the dreary eyes to open. "Do you want to come with me to the ring?"

She got big eyes and nodded. Snake smiled a little at her excitement and then quickly pushed it away. He couldn't have any emotion in the ring. If he did it opened him to mistakes. He couldn't afford mistakes. The little girl with him reminded him what the consequences would be for too big of a mistake.

Plissken set her down next to the booth and slid out. She clung to him and that's when he noticed the nasty looking Thai man again. Snake ignored him and took Mei Ping's hand. Without another glance he pushed his way toward the arena doors. Someone stepped on Mei's foot and Plissken sucker punched him. It caused a stir that immediately ground to a halt when someone said his name. The road parted like Moses had just walked in. Plissken was pleased and headed for the door with the little one in tow.

His eye took in the board when he entered. He didn't recognize the name next to his. The place was overwhelming. He'd never seen it so packed. The crowd surged around him and the little hand gripped his tighter. Snake's eye came to rest on the ring itself. The high internal chain-link fence surrounded by bulletproof glass in rag tag sheets. Most were salvaged or stolen. They were clean still. Later fights would be obscured by splatters of blood and gore on the glass, spider cracks of stray bullets and sweat from spectators pressing close. For now it looked half civilized.

Snake made his way to the far side and sat Mei Ping up on one of the high tables. "You stay right here."

"I go nowhere." She yawned and looked down at the ground before swinging her feet happily. "You a fighter."

Snake nodded and left her there to enter the ring. The place erupted in noise when they saw who stepped in. The table was brought in for the trick. Plissken barely saw it as the noise from people trying to place bets pushed the pain in his head to the point thought was almost impossible. Snake sat at the table waiting for his opponent. Maybe they wouldn't show.

Snake drummed his fingers on the table watching a rat scurry along the wall. Plissken pulled his eye away in disgust to see an overconfident man of indeterminate Asian decent coming toward the table. He had a single gun at his hip on the right. No doubt one behind his back too. The man sat and the gate was closed behind the showman. His gaudy outfit caused the pain in Plissken's eye to flare.

The glasses came and the usual filled them; human blood, innards and venom. The cobra wasn't killed as was traditional. They knew what happened the last time a showman killed a snake in front of the man named for them. The glasses where set and the wheel placed in the center of the table.

Silence dropped on the place when the wheel began to spin. Snake ignored it. The arrow could fall anywhere it wanted. Instead his eye focused coldly on the man across from him. The bastard kept averting his gaze. Plissken wondered if it was fear or if something was up that he had yet to discover. The wheel stopped on Plissken's side and the hand hit the table.

Snake reached out without hesitation and his eye still fixed on the nervous man across from him. He downed the blood and slammed the shot glass on the table. It was the cue for his opponent to drink up. Snake waited impatiently as the seconds ticked by. Finally he took the glass of ground innards. That was the one trick Snake refused to take. It curdled his stomach. He was lucky enough to have never met someone who would choose the venom over the bloodier tricks.

The glass came down and Snake knew the score. More money for whoever downed the last glass. His hand came out lightening fast and slammed the venom back before his opponent could flinch. He did flinch after from seeing just how quick Plissken's reactions were. The crowd erupted and surged outside the ring. The noise threatened to push consciousness right out of Plissken's head.

He stepped away from the table reeling with the noise. Snake forced his eye to focus. It came to rest on the little girl who was riveted on his presence. Taking a breath he stepped back steeling himself against the noise. It brought the pain surging in his eye to a manageable level. Plissken took his place in the box drawn crudely on the floor.

His eye drifted from the showman with a glass in hand and the man across from him. He focused on the man watching for a twitch any signal. Plissken's intensity peaked as he heard the crowd fall dead. He knew the glass was in the air. His whole being waited for the sound of crashing glass so he could draw. In fact the whole arena was suspended in anxiety waiting for it.

Snake keep an eye on the glass as it passed through his field of vision. He waited for it but instead of glass he heard the high pitched scream of a child. His eye left the game to rest on the table Mei Ping had been sitting on. It was empty. Snake's distraction had a price. He never saw the gun raise on him but the bullet was all fire as it buried in his chest. Snake went down hard into the dirt floor.

He was dead when he hit the ground but his time was far in the future. Things came back. First the fury which pushed him to his feet, blood still bubbling from his mouth. Shock spread in a uniform gasp through the spectators. Once on his feet his personality joined the destructive rage. Another scream plunged into his world from over the roaring crowd. Memories flooded him from long ago. The war rushed back in full intensity. The day was lost and became The Ruse.

Snake smiled a grin of flowing gore. His left arm brought the revolver up and he smelled the acrid burn of piss. His opponent had a look that was far beyond terror. Snake didn't even acknowledge it. With cold determination he depressed the trigger. Blood sprayed far back into the glass. Snake hadn't seen it because he was already turning to the gate. They had locked him in. He paced the entrance hit by another cry. This was more of a sob.

The animal in him wouldn't be chained. He turned on the opposing wall closest to the cries and he broke into a run. Snake bounded up and grabbed the chain link, vaulting it in a smooth motion. The beast within him was pushing his body to limits most humans didn't have the dedication to reach. Humans fled from him when he landed on the packed ground on all fours. His eye was up as he stood searching for the little figure.

A cry caught his attention and he was moving through the panicked insanity. The wound was gone, healed by his companion. Some would say it was the beast driving him but Plissken knew it was him alone that wanted to kill. He came up on the man dragging the child by the hair. Snake didn't break his stride when he slammed the throwing spike into the back of his head to the hilt. Plissken didn't bother to pull it out. Instead he scooped up the child pushing most of her beneath his bulletproof trench coat and holding tightly.

Others had guns on him but when Plissken brought his gun up the fled like rats from the light. The place had emptied in his wake except for the few in awe or those who just didn't care. None of the remaining patrons dared enter with in arms distance as he took Mei Ping to a table. He sat her on top noticing the gash on her side. It wasn't bad but for a child it must seem like a death blow.

Plissken's own faculties were back on line. The beast was locked away inside once more and he pulled some gauze from his utility belt. It would do until he could get her somewhere and properly attend to her wounds.

"Hurt." Little finger pressed to the bloody opening in his shirt.

Snake shook his head. "I'm fine. You on the other hand…"

She smiled and grabbed him around the neck. It was the gratitude of a child something Snake was rather fond of. 


End file.
